Last week, when the U.S. Mint announced a meeting of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee will be held on February 11, they included an agenda item mentioning a discussion regarding a 24-karat gold Kennedy half-dollar special product for 2014.
No further information is available from the U.S. Mint prior to the CCAC meeting.
Shortly after Kennedy’s, U.S. Mint Director Eva Adams and Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts reported that there was discussions about putting Kennedy’s portrait on a silver coin. Since Jacqueline Kennedy did not want to replace Washington’s portrait on the quarter, it was decided to use the half-dollar. Roberts used models from the inaugural medal for the obverse design and Assistant Engraver Frank Gasparro prepared the reverse design using the Presidential Seal.
Since the law stated that coinage design could not be changed more often than 25 years, and that the Franklin Half was only 15 years old, it required Congress to authorize the change. The Act of December 30, 1963 allowed the design to be changed.
When the coin was released in 1964, the 90-percent silver coin was saved by a grieving nation wanting something that represented the fallen President. Over 273 million coins were struck in Philadelphia and 156 million in Denver.
This year, the Kennedy half-dollar will celebrate its 50th anniversary. It appears that as part of that anniversary, the U.S. Mint will use the authorization it has to strike 24-karat gold Buffalo coins and use it to create a Kennedy half-dollar tribute.
Today’s poll asks if you like the idea of a gold tribute coin and whether you would buy one?
What do you think about the idea that the U.S. Mint will produce a 24-karat gold tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy half-dollar?
Total Voters: 70